The Nutritional Barriers of
Neuropathy and Ways to Improve

As time goes on, we continue to find out more about what an important role nutrition has in just about every condition.

Have you ever considered the role of nutrition when it comes to neuropathy in Fort Wayne?  Could there be foods that contribute to the degenerative progression of neuropathy?  Are there any specific nutritional components that could satisfy the body’s needs and aid in helping the body heal better?

Listen, peripheral neuropathy arises as a result of damage to the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord.  This can result from exposure to toxins, certain medications, traumatic injuries, metabolic conditions, and infections.¹ 

Keep in mind that a condition like neuropathy doesn’t happen overnight but is a condition that generally progresses over time.

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Why Does It Take Months to Recover from Neuropathy in Fort Wayne IN?

Often patients come to New Life Chiropractic and ask me why it will take at least a few months for them to recover from neuropathy. There are several reasons:

• Neuropathy means the nerves are damaged. When nerves heal, it takes a much longer time for this type of tissue to heal – longer than any other type of tissue in the body. This can be particularly true when it comes to healing the large diameter afferent nerve fibers, as they are the thickest and fastest conduction type of nerve fibers.²
• For neuropathy to heal, you may have to address an underlying circulation problem. If there’s not enough circulation to the area affected by the neuropathy, this has to be corrected first. All tissues will heal only when they are getting circulation. Thus, this can add additional time to the process of recovery from neuropathy.³
• Although there are different types of neuropathy, in most cases, neuropathy is long-standing and will take longer to heal than neuropathy in the beginning stages.⁴
• Neuropathy can be due to vitamin or mineral deficiencies or excesses, and until these are corrected, the neuropathy won’t go away.⁴

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What Vitamins/Minerals are Related to Neuropathy?

Let’s take a moment to discuss some of the possible and common nutritional components associated with neuropathy in Fort Wayne.

In many cases, they are revealed in the form of deficiency, however, it is also possible that the body can be overstimulated by having too much of certain components.   To be clear, these nutritional components may be associated with either vitamins or minerals.

Here’s a list of a few of the relationships between nutrition and neuropathy:

1. Vitamin B6 – pyridoxine – deficiency or excess.
   • Either one of these situations will create neuropathy. For this reason, practitioners only give 50 mg vitamin B6 in supplement form so that an excess is not created in the body.⁵
2. Vitamin E
   • Although thought to be rare, vitamin E deficiency can result whenever someone has problems absorbing fat. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin.⁶

3. Vitamin B1 – thiamine – deficiency.
   • Vitamin B1 deficiency is common whenever there are conditions such as malabsorption, malnutrition, alcoholism, diabetes and congestive heart failure.⁷

4. Vitamin D deficiency
   • It’s common to have a vitamin D deficiency. What’s the way around this? It may be to simply take a 5000 IU vitamin D3 supplement five times a week and get 20 minutes of sunlight a day – without sunglasses and sunscreen.⁸

5. Vitamin B2 – riboflavin – deficiency
   • Riboflavin is one of the B vitamins in the B complex group of vitamins. If it’s low, neuropathy can occur.⁹

6. Vitamin B12 deficiency
   • Vitamin B12 is another of the B vitamins and when it’s low, neuropathy can occur. The nerves in the body depend on vitamin B12 for their transmission of impulses.¹⁰ There’s another reason why you can end up with neuropathy – from taking the drug Metformin. This has been reported in the literature numerous times as causing neuropathy in diabetics. The drug causes a vitamin B12 deficiency that then causes neuropathy.¹¹

7. Copper deficiency/ Zinc excess
   • Sometimes people take zinc supplements on their own to combat a cold or for prostate problems. This may help with both these conditions, but any supplement of vitamins or minerals taken by itself means that the nutrient you take will raise its levels in the body but simultaneously lower levels of other vitamins or minerals. Nutrients work together in teams in the body; never by themselves.¹² When zinc supplements are taken, copper levels fall – and if they fall low enough, neuropathy may occur.¹³

8. Folic acid deficiency
   8. Folic acid is another of the B vitamins. Its deficiency causes neuropathy.¹⁴

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Start with Your Own Simple Solutions

Knowing all this, what can you do to overcome your neuropathy?

Here are some suggestions:

• Ask your doctor at New Life Chiropractic for his/her recommendation for a good B complex supplement. Food alone rarely cures deficiencies. Keep in mind, however, that not all supplements are created equally and of high quality.
• Eat foods that are high in B vitamins and copper. One of them is liver. If you don’t like to eat liver, you could take liver supplements.
• Sprout almonds. A sprouted almond is simply an almond that has been soaked in water for a few hours or overnight. During the process of soaking, the almond ‘thinks’ it’s going to have to support new life, so it shifts metabolism and uses all its fat stores to multiply the amount of B vitamins it contains – exponentially. Every little sprouted almond is equivalent to a mini B complex vitamin. Eating a handful of sprouted almonds is exceptionally beneficial for healing B vitamin deficiencies.

See how easy some of these things are to do? And when you do them, you will feel empowered to regain your health. It’s SO worth it!

At New Life Chiropractic in Fort wayne, we take a multi-faceted approach to detecting the underlying cause of neuropathy.  Our unique and proven methods of detection and treatment are what ensure optimal results for our patients.  If you’re wanting a neuropathy breakthrough, we’re here to help.

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Reference:

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-neuropathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20352061
2. http://www.mananatomy.com/basic-anatomy/types-nerve-fibers (*NOTE: As of 2024, this article is no longer accessible.)
3. https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/managing-diabetes/complications-prevention/improving-blood-flow-to-the-feet/
4. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14737-neuropathy
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25137514/
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28633123/
7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26742231/
8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29445752/
9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26973221/
10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24269115/
11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308905789_Vitamin_B12_deficiency_in_metformin-treated_type-2_diabetes_patients_prevalence_and_association_with_peripheral_neuropathy
12. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9891606/
13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24365342/
14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24365361/